Puppet



D. A. BACON May 15, 1962 PUPPET Filed Oct. 20, 1960 ATTORNEYS hull 3,034,255 PUPPET Doris A. Bacon, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Hallmark Cards, IncorporaterLKansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Oct. 20, 196i), Ser. No. 63,903

4 Claims. (Cl. 46-152) This invention relates to party novelties and the like and, more particularly, to an animated puppet.

The principal objects of the present invention are: to provide a device having a tubular, collapsible, honeycomb structure permitting the hand and arm of a recipient to be inserted thereinto for simulating an elongated animal or snake; to provide such a device in which a flexible disc may be manipulated by the fingers in the manner of a mouth so as to produce the effect of an animated biting snake; to provide such an article which is simple, novel and inexpensive to produce and which is collapsible so that it may be shipped and stored in a flattened condition; and to provide a puppet the manipulation of which can be quickly learned by the novice so as to provide pleasant diversion and amusement.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth by Way of illustration and example certain embodiments of this invention.

FIG. l'is a perspective view of the puppet illustrating the appearance thereof when expanded.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the puppet showing the position of the hand and arm inserted therein.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view partially broken away showing the puppet in a substantially collapsed condition.

' FIG. 4 is a detailed sectional view showing the mounting of an eye-simulating device in the honeycomb structure.

FIG. is a detailed perspective view showing the interlocking tabs of an eye-simulating device.

Referring to the drawings in more detail:

The reference numeral 1 generally indicates a puppet adapted to be controlled by the movement of the arm and hand of a person. The puppet 1 has a major portion thereof comprised of a tubular, longitudinally collapsible but transversely relatively rigid or self-supporting tissue paper honeycomb structure 2. The honeycomb structure 2 has a plurality of overlying thin flexible sheets 2a with said sheets each being joined to adjacent sheets at a plurality of spaced parallel lines of juncture with the lines of juncture 2b joining one sheet to one adjacent sheet alternating with the lines of juncture 2c joining said one sheet to the other adjacent sheet to form an expandable and bendable structure having passageways 2d parallel to said lines of juncture when said sheets are urged toward separation. The honeycomb structure is of a thickness substantially equal to the aggregate thickness of said sheets 2a when said sheets are substantially in face to face contact as shown in FIG. 3. A disc 3 of flexible sheet material, such as thin cardboard, has a forwardly facing surface 4 and a rearwardly facing surface 5 and is adapted to bend transversely thereof along a fold line 6. The bending divides the disc 3 into an upper disc section 7 and a lower disc section 8.

One end 9 of the tubular honeycomb structure 2 is closed by being secured to the rearwardly facing surface 5 of the disc 3 by means of a suitable paper adhesive. A planar, sheet material annulus or ring-like member 10 having substantially the same inner and outer diameter as the honeycomb structure 2 is secured to the other end 11 of the honeycomb structure 2 also by means of a suitable paper adhesive. The annulus or member 10 is ice preferably formed of cardboard thicker than the material of the disc 3 so as to be substantially rigid.

I The inside diameters of the tubular honeycomb structure 2 and the member 10 are suflicient to allow the hand 12 and arm 13 of the recipient to be inserted thereinto, permitting the honeycomb structure 2 to be longitudinally expanded to surround a substantial portion of the arm while the hand contacts the rearwardly facingsurface 5 of the disc 3, FIG. 2; The outside diameters of the structure 2 and member Ill are substantially larger than the hand 12 and arm 13, FIG. 2. The structure 2 being longitudinally collapsible but transversely relatively rigid presents the appearance of a constant diameter but supple elongated member when expanded.

A pair .of spaced eye-simulating devices 14 are secured to the structure 2 adjacent the upper section 7 of the disc 3 by means of interlocking tabs 15 and 16 described more fully hereinafter. The eye-simulating devices 14 are comprised of circular transparent coverings 17 secured over shallow circular containers 18 by means of a suitable adhesive to form shallow circular cavities 19 each of which contains a freely movable disc 20 of a color sharply contrasting with the color of the circular containers 18. The devices 14 appear to be a pair of eyes which are looking in a direction which may be altered by a movement which causes the discs 20 to shift to a'difiierent position with respect to the containers 18.

The containers 18 are secured on the back side thereof to supporting strips 21 by means of a suitable adhesive. The upper ends 22 and lower ends 23 of the supporting strips 21 are respectively attached to the interlocking tabs 15 and 16. The tabs 15 and 16 are respectively inserted through openings 24- and 25 in the honeycomb structure 2 and mutually secured to each other by engaging or interlacing transverse slots 26 and 27 each extending approximately half the width of the respective tab from a side edge thereof.

It is apparent that when the puppet has been expanded to surround a substantial portion of the arm 13, and the hand 12 contacts the'rearwardly facing surface 5 of the disc 3, that the disc may be manipulated by the fingers 28 contacting the upper disc section 7 and the thumb 29 contacting the lower disc section 8 in the manner of a mouth to produce the amusing client of an animated flexible biting snake, FIGS. 1 and 2. The effective animation of the puppet is easily mastered by a novice and produces delight and amusement in a party atmosphere. It is intended that the various pants of the puppet 1 should be brightly colored to add to the desired effect.

It is to beunderstood that while I have illustrated and described one form of my invention, it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement of parts herein described and shown except insofar as such limitations are included in the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A puppet comprising; an end member having a face, said end member carrying facial features adapted to be manipulated by hand, a ring member having a face toward the face of the end member and an axial opening which is a size sufiicient to receive a hand and arm therethrough, and a flexible honeycomb structure having a plurality of overlying thin flexible sheets disposed between said faces of the end member and ring member, said sheets each being joined to adjacent sheets at a plurality of spaced parallel lines of juncture with the lines of juncture joining one sheet to one adjacent sheet alternating with the lines of juncture joining said one sheet to the other adjacent sheet so as to form an expandable and bendable honeycomb structure having passageways extending parallel to said lines of juncture when said sheets are urged toward separation, said structure being a thickness substantially V V 9 a 0 equal to the aggregate thickness of said sheets when said sheets are in substantially face to face contact, the first V and last of said plurality of sheets being respectively sccnred to said faces of the end member and ring member, said sheets each'having cut-outportions which are asize sufiicient to receive a hand and arm therethrough and aligned with said axial opening of the ring member on a substantially common axis when said structure is in a collapsed condition, said passageways being in planes generally normal to, said axis when said structure is longitudinally'expanded along said axis, said structure when ing means having tabs insertedinto respective passageways, said tabs being mutually interlocking within said cavity for securing said means to said structure.

References Cited in theiile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,569,563 Muller Jan. 12, 1926 1,809,635 Luhr s June 9, 1931 2,116,346 Gerling May 3, 1938 2,340,950 Cotler July 1, 1958 2,929,170

Brown et a1 Mar. 22, 1960 

